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US$189 AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box (16Gbps-TB2)


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I also tried:

- 450 Watt bequiet PSU

- without riser. the box was powered by the original PSU (dont use akitio's PSUand a powered riser at once - it could melt your board and graphic card)

- another thunderbolt cable

- another macbook

- any order of switching on the box and booting

This egpu setup isn't "plug and play" at all as stated in other posts, but maybe I just got a faulty box.

Maybe I am wrong here, but is this how you did setup your AkiTio from your statement above?

post-28502-14494998207664_thumb.png

What happen if you try this setup?

post-28502-14494998207456_thumb.jpg

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Hey,

i tried the Box on my W540 and GTX780 Ti and R9 290X working without any problems (TB1 + W8 x64, Win7 wasnt working). I dont even need the powered riser (tested with Furmark and some other stresstests).



pictures please? As far as I know the GTX 780 ti is rated atleast with the following power; Maximum Graphics Card Power
250 Watts
How did you able to run that?
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This is the one that I am using. It only has one 12V wire so I guess it supports up to 5A (60W)?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12336[/ATTACH]

I guess it will ultimately depend on the wire gauge (see if you can spot the writing on the wire). Your adapter seems to have capacitors built in so some level of power filtering should already be in place.

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I just had a private discussion with gothic860 about his AkiTio setup. So basically this is how the hardware were routed

PSU <2x 8pin> GPU 780 ti <riser (molex is not attached to any power)> AkiTio <power by its default adapter) . According to him it worked on his laptop under Windows 8

The reason he put a riser (which according to him can be removed) so he can just place it on the table for testing.

I showed this image to him to confirm the setup and he said yes. Any other AkiTio user out there and confirm this setup if it will work too?

post-28502-14494998208059_thumb.jpg

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Just to confirm its working without the riser:

eac0d7348017008.jpg 708d63348017017.jpg a6c97c348017028.jpg 203248348017032.jpg

Maybe not all GPUs working this way?

From the few examples posted thus far, it would appear that some of the higher spec'd cards (780Ti, R90X) are getting the majority of their power through the 6+8 pin or 8+8 pin power connections and not from the PCIe slot. More testing would need to be done to really test this theory, as it's unclear what testing was done to determine stability. It may be a case where you haven't pushed the card hard enough to attempt to draw too much power.

It may also be vendor implementation-specific. Makes sense why these work and a 750Ti doesn't.

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From the few examples posted thus far, it would appear that some of the higher spec'd cards (780Ti, R90X) are getting the majority of their power through the 6+8 pin or 8+8 pin power connections and not from the PCIe slot. More testing would need to be done to really test this theory, as it's unclear what testing was done to determine stability. It may be a case where you haven't pushed the card hard enough to attempt to draw too much power.

It may also be vendor implementation-specific. Makes sense why these work and a 750Ti doesn't.

@gothic86 can you please test your setup and do some gaming? and tell us how stable it is?

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From the few examples posted thus far, it would appear that some of the higher spec'd cards (780Ti, R90X) are getting the majority of their power through the 6+8 pin or 8+8 pin power connections and not from the PCIe slot. More testing would need to be done to really test this theory, as it's unclear what testing was done to determine stability. It may be a case where you haven't pushed the card hard enough to attempt to draw too much power.

It may also be vendor implementation-specific. Makes sense why these work and a 750Ti doesn't.

My Gigabyte 750Ti (PCIe + 6pin powered) and EVGA GTX 780 are both stable, but only the latter is now fully tested (you can see the performance numbers from my updated post, retina screen playing is very smooth and no stability problems at all). There are so many variables. I guess too, that it is vendor specific. Firstly, you have to choose the right vendor, and secondly the card must have at least one 6pin power connector. By solving the 25W limit of the PCIe slot, we very likely extend the collection of supported GPUs.

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Hey,

i tried the Box on my W540 and GTX780 Ti and R9 290X working without any problems (TB1 + W8 x64, Win7 wasnt working).

I dont even need the powered riser (tested with Furmark and some other stresstests).

Did you manage to get the GTX780 Ti and R9 290X to work with your W540 using the Sonnet Echo Express III-D?

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Did you manage to get the GTX780Ti and R9 290X to work with your W540 using the Sonnet Echo Express III-D?

My Sonnet Echo is already sold, but i wasnt able to get it working with the 780 (not Ti).

@gothic86 can you please test your setup and do some gaming? and tell us how stable it is?

Will test some games later today and report.

EDIT: Tested and unstable. WoW for example was working but as soon as i tab in and out it crashes with BSOD. I attached my powered riser again and working.... Strange thing is that real stresstests like Furmark were working without problems.

Another problem is the dGPU (K2100M): I cant install the driver or my eGPU isnt working (no display).

EDIT2: 2 Problems: 1. I cant use my dGPU (with installed dGPU my eGPU shows no display)

2. Its unstable. I tested with World of Warcraft and with and without the powered riser i get BSODs or other stuff.

I think i stick with my PE4L 2.1b

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EDIT: Tech Inferno Fan asked if I could write a full implementation report of my setup, so here it is.

Thanks a lot! Could you show us in more detail how you do the paperclip trick with your SFX PSU? I found this solution on the Corsair website but it looks like you do it differently and cleaner?

Is there an admin that can make sure that this solution is easier to find for new forum members?

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Thanks a lot! Could you show us in more detail how you do the paperclip trick with your SFX PSU? I found this solution on the Corsair website but it looks like you do it differently and cleaner?

Is there an admin that can make sure that this solution is easier to find for new forum members?

Yep, I did my "paperclip trick" cleaner way by modifying an old 6-pin power cable that had the correct hole layout, and then just connected those ground and power on wires together with a piece of electronic tape.

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Guys, my AkiTio arrived today. I'm still trying to work it with Mac Mini Windows 8 but still no luck (I will try again later)

However, I was able to run it against Mac OS using my Macbook Pro 13inch. Please see the screen shot. (but with issues, viewing youtube videos just shows pixels.

I will upload some updates later.

post-28502-144949982437_thumb.jpg

post-28502-14494998212733_thumb.jpg

post-28502-14494998243402_thumb.jpg

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Guys, my AkiTio arrived today. I'm still trying to work it with Mac Mini Windows 8 but still no luck (I will try again later)

However, I was able to run it against Mac OS using my Macbook Pro 13inch. Please see the screen shot. (but with issues, viewing youtube videos just shows pixels.

I will upload some updates later.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12349[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]12350[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12351[/ATTACH]

[uPDATE] Whoa!!! My Mac Mini works with AkiTio! Youtube is working too compared to my MacBook!

post-28502-14494998246188_thumb.jpg

post-28502-14494998243941_thumb.jpg

post-28502-14494998245055_thumb.jpg

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Guys, my AkiTio arrived today. I'm still trying to work it with Mac Mini Windows 8 but still no luck (I will try again later)

However, I was able to run it against Mac OS using my Macbook Pro 13inch. Please see the screen shot. (but with issues, viewing youtube videos just shows pixels.

I will upload some updates later.

Welcome to the group of AKiTiO owners :) I am just a step behind you, because my GTX 780 is detected under system report on OSX 10.9.4, but the external screen stays completely black (Optimus support doesn't exist on OSX, so we cannot expect to have performance increase in internal screen). Did you make some kext modifications?

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Welcome to the group of AKiTiO owners :) I am just a step behind you, because my GTX 780 is detected under system report on OSX 10.9.4, but the external screen stays completely black (Optimus support doesn't exist on OSX, so we cannot expect to have performance increase in internal screen). Did you make some kext modifications?

Yes Sir! I did some kext modification. This was done when I was trying my PE4H 2.4 work on Mac OS and Windows 8.

Another update: ran some Final Cut Pro rendering and did not encounter any issues:) my Mac Mini isn't running hot too during rendering!

I am just so amazed! I will try to play some Steam games. Will provide update later!:Banane41:

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Yes Sir! I did some kext modification. This was done when I was trying my PE4H 2.4 work on Mac OS and Windows 8.

Another update: ran some Final Cut Pro rendering and did not encounter any issues:) my Mac Mini isn't running hot too during rendering!

I am just so amazed! I will try to play some Steam games. Will provide update later!:Banane41:

I played DOTA 2 on my steam game with medium-high setting.. it was awesome. I've been playing DOTA 2 for like 3 years under Windows bootcamp but never saw how good and detailed the graphics of this game! I think I'm not going to do a bootcamp anymore since, the only reason I do bootcamp is for DOTA 2! LOL!!!!

Now, I need to see what enclosure I am going to use since my GTX 660 is too big for the AkiTio enclosure! :)

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Yes Sir! I did some kext modification. This was done when I was trying my PE4H 2.4 work on Mac OS and Windows 8.

Another update: ran some Final Cut Pro rendering and did not encounter any issues:) my Mac Mini isn't running hot too during rendering!

I am just so amazed! I will try to play some Steam games. Will provide update later!:Banane41:

Congratulations. We are now seeing a few successful eGPU implementations with the AKiTiO Thunder2. Your particular one unique since it's using a Mac Mini. Unfortunately we have no implementation guides on using a Mac Mini so far: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html#Thunderbolt . Would you consider creating one for other Mac Mini owners?

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Congratulations. We are now seeing a few successful eGPU implementations with the AKiTiO Thunder2. Your particular one unique since it's using a Mac Mini. Unfortunately we have no implementation guides on using a Mac Mini so far: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html#Thunderbolt . Would you consider creating one for other Mac Mini owners?

I would do @Tech Inferno Fan.

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If anyone is interested im selling my Akitio TB2 Box (shipping from germany). Just PM. Thanks.

Nando4 comment>> gothic860 implemented an expresscard-based eGPU on his Lenovo W540 rather than a Thunderbolt-based one. Details at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7388-%5Bguide%5D-thinkpad-w540-pe4l-2-1b-amd-r9-290x-nvidia-780ti.html#post101232 . I guess the AKiTiO is a leftover enclosure??

SOLD

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I had my old Mac mini (Mid 2011) laying around and was going to sell it very soon, but changed my mind after this:

post-28870-14494998247453_thumb.jpg

post-28870-14494998247796_thumb.png

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Those pictures tell it all, I am wordless... the same installation method doesn't work yet with the new 15" MacBook Pro.

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